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Staff attitudes towards working with drug users: development of the Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire
Hazel Watson1, William Maclaren, Susan Kerr
1Caledonian Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. h.e.watson@gcal.ac.uk
Aim:
To evaluate the psychometric properties of an adaptation of the Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perceptions Questionnaire to measure the attitudes of staff to working with drug users (the DDPPQ).
Design:
Postal survey: a questionnaire was mailed to participants on two occasions.
Setting:
A large urban National Health Service (NHS) mental health service.
Participants:
A stratified random sample of medical staff, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and nurses (n = 672) who work within generic mental health, adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry and alcohol and drug services. Response rate at Time 1 was 56% and 68% at Time 2.
Measurements:
A structured demographic questionnaire; individual item and total scores for the DDPPQ administered on two occasions 4 weeks apart; data relating to the content validity of the instrument.
Findings:
A principal component analysis confirmed the DDPPQ's construct validity and participants confirmed its content validity. Following analysis of the instrument's test-retest reliability and its principal component structure it was reduced to a 20-item scale. Its five subscales related to role adequacy, role support, job satisfaction, role-specific self-esteem and role legitimacy.
Conclusion:
The refined DDPPQ was shown to be a valid and reliable tool which can be used to measure attitudes of people in relation to working with drug users.
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